Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) President Hilbert Foster and Windies rising star Shimron Hetmyer recently met to discuss the development of cricket in the county as they plan the launching of the Shimron Hetmyer Intermediate Cricket Tournament.

Hetmyer readily agreed to sponsor the Intermediate Tournament as the BCB strives to host 30 cricket tournaments in 2019 after successfully completing 25 of the 30 tournaments started in 2018. The Intermediate Tournament will be opened to all teams in Berbice and will see teams being allowed to play four First-Division Players per game.

Only Berbicians will be allowed to play while a player who has played more than three 40-Over, 50-Over and Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Franchise matches in 2019 shall be called a First-Division Player.

Under-19 players shall be considered First-Division while a list of senior players has been debarred. They include Hetmyer himself, Veerasammy Permaul, Clinton Pestano, Romario Shepherd, Devendra Bishoo, Assad Fudadin and Gajanand Singh.

Teams such as Rose Hall Town Bakewell, Albion Community Centre, Port Mourant, Young Warriors, Blairmont Community Centre, Achievers, Tucber Park, Rose Hall Canje, Skeldon, Edinburgh and Mount Sinai are expected to be part of the Tournament, which will be played on a 50-over knockout basis.

The BCB President heaped praises on Hetmyer for giving back to the county and urged him to continue being a positive role model to the thousands of youths in Berbice who looked up to him for inspiration. Foster committed the Board to organising a high-class tournament with the final scheduled to follow Hetmyer’s return from the Indian Premier League (IPL) Tournament in India.

Foster announced that 2019 will be another record-breaking year for Berbice as the Cricket Board builds on the remarkable progress made in 2018. Foster also stated that cricket would be played at the Under-13, Under-15, Under-17, Under-19, Under-21, Second-Division, Double-Wicket, First-Division, female, intermediate, internal zone, primary school, and secondary school levels while dozens of developmental programmes will also be organised.

Hetmyer, the 18th male to play Test Cricket from Berbice, stated that he was delighted to sponsor the tournament as he strongly believes in giving back. The BCB, he stated, was doing a great job at promoting the game, and he recalled playing a similar tournament during his early days at the Young Warriors Cricket Club. He committed himself to playing a major role in the development of Berbice cricket while discussing other areas of interest with the BCB President.